In fishing, spinners and spinning lures are used to attract fish. Conventional spinning blades made of metal are generally used in continuously-retrieved, relatively fast-moving lures such as in-line (Mepps-type) spinners, spinnerbaits, and the like. They are seldom used on slower-moving or bottom bouncing lures such as Skirted “Flipping” Jigs, Texas-rigged plastic worms, tube lures (unless these soft lures are rigged as a trailer to a spinner or buzzer, intended to be more or less continuously retrieved) for several reasons. Conventional metal blades need constant forward reeling motion or a freefall weighted by a lure much heavier than the metal blade, to spin freely, because they are generally much heavier than water. They require the bait to move forward relatively quickly. Therefore they do not work well with slow-moving baits or lures that start and stop frequently.
Also, conventional metal blades are hard and rotate quickly. These blades are generally located in front of or away from the hook point, even when they adorn a soft swimming lure (such as the tiny propellers ahead of a pre-rigged swimming plastic worm). Otherwise, fish would be struck on the nose or mouth as they bite them and reject the bait, as often happens with spinnerbaits.
A number of pliable lures that spin are known. In one example, surgical tubing is trolled with a lead line on a swivel or behind a weight. In another example, a “balled up” plastic worm is rigged in such a manner as to put a bend in the worm by threading the plastic worm partially up the bend of a hook. These worm rigs spin in the water and are usually trolled or cast with a swivel connecting the lure to the fishing line.
These spinning lures are disadvantageous in that the entire lure spins. This can lead to line twist, because there is no portion of the lure attached to the line that does not spin. The “non-spinning” portion of the fishing rig is not the lure itself, but a sinker or swivel of some sort, which is often not enough to stop the line from twisting. Also, spinning lures can easily foul in weeds, because the leading portion of the lure instantly picks up weeds and spins them around its axis.
Various pliable spinning appendages for attachment to a fishing lure are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,895,789. The lure is attachable to a fishing line with no spinning with respect to the fishing line. The appendage is attached to the lure with a swivel mechanism that allows unrestricted 360° rotation. The appendages increase attractiveness, flash, vibration, color, or scent. Due to their slow spinning speed and neutral buoyancy in water, the appendages provide advantages when used with slow-moving lures not possible with hard blades.